In article ,
Mike Lyle wrote:
OldScrawn wrote:
My horsey newsgroup suggested this cross-post.

There are a few gaps / weak points in one of our hedges. It's a
mixture of allsorts; ash, alder, sycmore, thorny things. What can
we
plant that might grow reasonably quickly and not get eaten by
horses?
On limestone, fairly exposed, hilltop in S Gloucestershire. (I
already have a list of things that are toxic to horses, to filter
against)

It's really only hawthorn, I'd say. Blackthorn's a swine to work
with, and sends out suckers. They'll have a nibble, but it won't do
any harm to the horses. If the hedge itself is the stock barrier,
you'll need to put in some temporary bits of fence while the plants
bulk up, though. It sounds as though the whole hedge wants doing,
unless it's already backed up by a wire fence all the way along:
sycamore etc aren't particularly good for making stock-proof
barriers.

Pyrcantha is a very close relative of hawthorn, and can be treated
the same way. There is also berberis, but B. vulgaris takes a
little while to establish (and then grows quite fast). Roses can
also be used to fill in gaps.

And most horses aren't stupid enough to eat poisonous plants, which
is why it is a myth that yew is as dangerous as is made out.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.